Nail-assorting mechanism.



Patented Aug. l9, I902. B. F. MAYO. NAIL ASSOBTING MECHANISM.

(Application filed June 16, 1898.)

Int/endow? I III/II .Tn: nonms PETERS cm, PHOTO-LITHQ, wAsn uamu, n. n

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. 1

BENJAMIN F. MAYO, OFSALEM, M ssAoHI-fs TTs, AssIc oR', BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,'TO. THE UNITED SHOE MACHINERY ooMPAN A con- PORATION or NEW JERSEY.

N-Al L-Asso Rmej M EoHAms'ML- SPECIFICATTON forming part of Letters was No. 707,136, dated August 19, 1902.

Application filed June 15,1898. SeriallIo. 683,476. (No model.)

T0 aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. MAYO, of

Salem, county of- Essex, State of Massachusetts, have inventedv an Improvement in Nail- 5 Assorting Mechanism, of which. the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention has for its object to improve that class of nail-assortin'g mechanism wherein a series of nails are conducted down a raceway-groove.

One part of my present invention consists in dividing the raceway-plate transversely. into a plurality of parts and imparting to each of said parts movement in the direction of the length of the raceway-grooves. Also I have combined with a raceway-plate a novel nail-lifting mechanism ,to supply the racewayplate and its grooveswithnailsf Figure 1 is a top or plan view of a sufficient portion of a nail-assorting apparatus to illustrate my improvement. Fig. 2.is a partial section thereof in the line m, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a detail of the shaft 13, showing its eccentrio; and Fig. 4 is a detail; showing the arm Z7 detached from the machine. I The framework of the machine presents two side pieces A, one being shown, in Fig. 2,

a suitable ear b attached to a plate b the ends of said plate-entering suitable guideways under the way-piecesof the side frames.

The plate 19 has at its upper side suitable uprights c, to which is attached in any usual or suitable manner the plate c of the raceway, .havinga series of grooves made longi-,

said side pieces having at their upper ends tudinallytherein to conductlthe nails down to a'nyiusual or suitable controlling devices,

such as. common to United States Patent No. 577,213, dated February 16, 1897.{.The

plate b has at its under side (see Fig. 2) a,

boss, which constitutes a bearing for a shaft 5 having at one enda worm-toothed gear b which is engaged and driven by the. worm b, said shaft b h aving attached to'it, near its opposite end, a cam or eccentric b the face of which in the line of said shaft-has a conical. cavity (shown by. dottedlines in said cavity of the cam b and causing 'said shaft vfigure) to fo'rm'pa'rtof a friction-clutch. The plate 19 has also depending from 'it other. bosses 12 b, which receive a short shaft 17,

b to be rotated in unison with the shaft b aud when said conical part is disengaged from the cam 17 then the shaft b? will be left at rest. I p

. The shaft bhas attached toit'at its outer .end a'collar"b f'havi'm a rejection b",

which acts at each rotation-of thei shaft 6 against the wedge-shaped side 30 (see Fig. 4)

ofa spring pressed arm 21?, which causes the said shaft b to be movedfto theright, viewing Fig.1,"thus opening'the clutch and stopping its rotation, this happening at'each rotation of the shaft. The shaft b has a cam b .,which acts to raise a nail-lifter b of usual construction, sothat'it puts its'series of nails taken from the raceway onto ,a raceway-terminal b from which said nails enter pockets in a controller I), substantially as contained in said patent. Whenever the shaft 17 is to be started to operate the controller and the lifter, the arm Z2 may be elevated in any usual manner from behind the projection b", and thereafter a spring b surrounding said shaft, will operate to move itto the left and. eifect the engagement of the drivingclutch, hereinbefore described;

I From the foregoing description it will be understood that the shafts?) and b reciprocatewith the plate b The second pair of eccentrics b on the shaft B, reversely set, are embraced by a pair of links cl, shown as united by suitable pins d with ears d secured by suitable bolts d to a sliding plate d, the ends of said plate traveling in a slot below the way-pieces A, said plate d' having erected upon it suitable uprights d (1 having attached to them by suitable pins 2 3 suitable ears depending from the second portion or plate 0 of the raceway.

The plates 0 c constitute a raceway, and it will be noticed that they are divided and. separated one from the other transversely, thus making a raceway of a plurality of plates set at an inclination one below the other, and by the rotation of the shaft B described the reversely-placed eccentrics, through the connections described, may impart to the two plates or parts of the raceway a reciprocating motion in the direction of the length of the grooves in the said plates, and these reciprocations may take place simultaneously in opposite directions, or the eccentric might be so placed as to shake one of the said plates and immediately after the other plate, the object then being to give each plate a separate shaking motion in a different time and in the direction of the length of the raceway-grooves. Heretofore the raceways used in this class of machine have been reciprocated, and in practice it has been found that the strain required to move said raceways and the strain exerted in reversing their movements have so jarred the comparatively light-weight heel-attaching machines with which the nail-asserting mechanism is commonly employed that the heel-attaching machine could not be practically used; but in my efforts to enable a nailassorting mechanism to be used with a heel attaching machine I discovered that by dividing the raceway transversely and by imparting to the different parts of the raceway independent movements, preferablyin opposite directions and substantially simultaneously, I was enabled to do away with the jar ring strains and other objections hitherto existing to the use of such mechanism. I believe myself to be the first to divide a raceway into a plurality of parts and move the parts independently to thereby impart to the raceway proper shaking motions to enable the nails to travel thereon. I have also by my invention been enabled to do entirely away with any of the usual means heretofore employed to hammer or strike the raceway in order that the nails might travel down the same and be delivered therefrom.

The plate d has a notch d (see Fig. 2,) in which may play one end of a suitable lever e, having its fulcrum at e said lever having at its longer end a suitable pin or stud a which enters a slot in an ear 6, connected with a slide a, fitted to be moved up and down in suitable guiding-grooves e in a part of the framework of the machine. The plate 6 at or near its upper end has a shelff, and to the upper end of said slide is hinged, as shown in Fig. 2, a nail-feeding plate f, it being represented as a box having a series of longitudinal 1, and as the lever e is moved to raise the slide said feeding-plate rises with it into the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, the feeding-plate in its final upward movement being tipped by or through an arm f connected with the feeding-plate, it meeting a stud f, fixed to the framework of the machine. The tipping of the feedingplate, as represented in dotted lines, Fig. 2, causes the nails thereon to drop into the V-shaped grooves of the plate 0 of the raceway, the bottoms of said grooves being on a level with the bottoms of the narrower grooves in the plate a, forming the lower part of the raceway, the nails in the grooves of the plate 0 readily passing from said grooves into the grooves of the plate 0; but any surplus nails leaving the plate 0 and entering the spaces in the plate c'at the sides of the racewaygrooves therein will travel along down said spaces and be discharged through the openings g therein in line with said spaces, said nails falling onto the inclined grooved returning-plate g, which leads back said nails toward the end of the machine, they being returned to the feeding-plate to be again discharged upon the upper portion 0 of the raceway.

The nails lying on the inclined returningplate g when the feeding-plate is lifted are prevented from escaping from said returning-plate by means of the slide a and any nails sliding down the returning-plate crosswise may drop therefrom through the space '11 between the delivery end of said returningplate and the feeding-plate. The returningplate g may be reciprocated back and forth in unison with the plate 0, it being suitably attached thereto by screws g entering ears carried by the plate I). The lever e derives its movement from the cam or eccentric Z2 before described, it acting on a roller m at one end of said lever.

I have herein chosen to illustrate the raceway as composed of separate plates grooved transversely to form nail-receiving grooves; but instead of these particular plates each having the grooves worked out of it in one solid piece I may employ any other usual or suitable known form of raceway-plate adapted to receive and guide a series of nails. The gist of this invention, so far as it applies to the raceway, is that it has a plurality of plates having suitable grooves or channels in and down which the nails may slide from one to the other.

The grooves in the plate 0 of the raceway are wider and deeper than the grooves in the plate 0' of the raceway, and the plate 0 stands at a slightly-higher level than the plate 0, and in practice the grooves of the plate (3 each contain many nails, so that there are always sufficient nails to supply the way composed of a plurality of transversely arranged grooved plates,-a shaft, and-means plate in continuation of ithavinga series of' narrow grooves with wider spaces at the sides cated in a plane below the plane of the for mer plate, whereby the plate having thenarnarrower' grooves of ,the plate 0, this con-' strnction having been provided in orderthat the'narrower groovesmayalways be kept properly filled, the surplus nails leaving the plate a and passing on the plate c, but not entering its nail-guiding grooves, passing downsaid plate, and being discharged therefrom through the openings 9'.

Having describedmyinvention, what I them independentlysimultaneously in opposite directions, substantially as described.-

2. In a nail-assorting'mechanism, a raceconnecting said shaftand 'plates'to move them simultaneously independently one-ofthe other in the direction of the length of the grooves therein, substantially as described.

3. A plurality of inclined raceway-plates,-

grooved to receive and guide nails, one of said plates occupying a position in a lower planethan the other of said plates, and means to.;impart'1notion independently to eachof said plates but in opposite'directions simul-' taneously, for the purposes set forth.

- 4:. A raceway presentinga plate having a series of wide and deep grooves, and a second of said grooves, saidsecond plate being 10- roW grooves may alwaysbe kept'well filled from the plate having the wide" and deep grooves, substantially asdescribed.

5. A raceway presenting an inclined plate having a series of wide and deep grooves, and a second plate having a'series of narrow grooves with wider'spaces at the sides of'said grooves, and discharge-openings, said second plate being located in a planebelow the-plane of the plate having the wide and deep'grooves,

fso

whereby the plate having-thewide anddeep grooves may always keepfilled-the narrow grooves of the second plate, substantially as described. v i

6. A raceway presenting an inclined plate having a series of wide and deep grooves, and a second plate having aseries of narrow grooves with wider spaces at the sides of said grooves anddischarge-openings, said second plate being located'iu a plane below the plane of the plate having the wide and deep grooves, whereby the plate having the wide and'deep' grooves may always keep filled the narrow 1 parts, each part having a series of groovesfor grooves of the second plate, and a returning plate to receive the nails discharged'through said. opening, substantially as described.

7. In a nail-assorting mechanism, the following instru mentalities, viz: a raceway composed of a plurality 'of grooved plates ar ranged transversely of the machine, a shaft,

-and points in the pro'per'directions; 1 I "15. In a nail-asserting mechanism,ra pluand connections between it and said plates to move-them simultaneously in opposite direc: tions, thus shaking them in the direction of the lengths of the grooves therein; a nail lifter located at the lower end of said raceway, means to actuate it, raceway-terminals,

and a suitable oontrollingdevice to providefor the delivery in the proper "'direction as'totheir heads and points of the nails-leaving the terminal, substantially as desoribed.-

8, In a nail-assorting mechanism, a raceway-plate, and' an inclined returning-plate to "receive upon itsurplus nails discharged from said raceway-plate;combined with a nail-; feeding plate substantially-equal in width to said returning-plate and normally occupying an inclined position at the end of 'said returning-plate to receive upon'it nails-leavingsaid from a'position at or below the delivery end'of.

-returning-plate,a guide for said' feeding-plate, "and means to lift saidfeeding platevertically the returning plate into a position ator above the receivingend of the raceway-plate and to tilt said plate, in order that nails coming upon the feeding-plate may be automatically transferred therefrom to said raceway-plate."

9. Anail-assorting mechanism comprising a raceway consisting of a plurality of parts ar-'i v ranged to feed nails 'and'means to move said parts independently, combined with mechanism for receiving nails from said raceway and delivering them all pointingthe same way.

10. In-a nail-assorting mechanism,"thefollowing 'instr'umentalities, vizfa raceway, a

too

returning-plate groovedto receive andguide' having a series of groovesand arrangedtra'nsv versely with'relatlon to saldreturning plate,

means to move said feeding-plate,it beingsupvported independently of said returning-plate,

grooves, substantially'as'describedl- P 1 the nails,*combinedwitha nail-feeding plate i 11. A-racewayto guide nails presenting a plurality of parts, divided transversely of the direction 'of travel ofthe nails,and means'to move said parts independently in' the di'rec- I tion of 'the travel of the nails.

l 12. A raceway consisting of a'plurality of parts located at differentlevels and each'hav- 'ing a seriesjof grooves, andmeans to'move'. said parts independently.

13. A racewaycons'isting of a plurality of andmeans to supply automatically one of said," parts with nails to be assorted.

parts, each part having a series ofgroovesfor: nai1s,'means to move saidparts independently,

14; A" raceway consisting of :a plurality of nails, means'to move said parts'independently,

"and a suitable controlling device to i provide for the delivery of the na'ils'with'theirhe'a'ds rality of oppositely-inclined plates torcceive and guide nails, and means for reciprocating said plates simultaneously in opposite directions to cause nails to travel along said plates in the directions of said inclinations.

16. A nail-assorting mechanism comprising a raceway and a returning-table and being divided into a plurality of parts; and means for reciprocating said parts simultaneously in opposite directions to cause the nails to travel on the raceway and returning-table.

17. In a nail-assorting mechanism, a plate to receive and guide nails, a returning-table, and means for reciprocating said plateand table simultaneously in opposite directions to cause the nails to travel thereon. 

